Captivating Carrots: Organics gone affordable part 5

Penelope has been eating pureed foods for just about two weeks now, and so far her favorite has been pureed carrots! Today marks her sixth month half birthday, so in honor of Penelope’s special day I am going to tell you all how to make a carrot puree!  Happy half birthday Penelope! <3

Penelope, 6 months old today!

Carrot Puree

1. Before you start on making your carrot puree, there are some things that you should note. Carrots, when cooked let off nitrates. An overabundance of nitrates in food can be harmful for your baby. This is why steaming is the preferable method for cooking carrots in regards to making baby food. This way, the water will absorb the nitrates, the carrots will not be soaking in the water and the liquid can then be thrown out. To thin down carrot puree when blending, DO NOT use the water it was steamed with. Use fresh water.  Otherwise you are just dumping all those nitrates into the food!  Okay…on with the show…
2. Choose whatever amount of good, healthy looking carrots you would like to use. (I used 4 and they gave me two full ice cube trays worth!)
   

   Fresh organic carrots

3. Peel and dice them (this will allow for quicker steaming)
   

   carrots diced

4. Fill the bottom of your steaming pot with 1 – 1 1/2″ of water. Place your carrots in the steaming basket and cover with the lid.
5. Steam your carrots for 15-20 minutes or until tender.
6. Place steamed carrots in the food processor and puree, adding fresh water (NOT the carrot steaming water) into the mixture to thin it out as needed.
   

   carrots pureed

7. Once you have a nice smooth, pudding-like consistency, spoon the mixture into an ice cube tray. Cover in plastic wrap and freeze.
   

   Ice cube tray full of carrots

8. After they are frozen, remove from tray, label a freezer bag with the title and date and fill it with the cubes. They will stay good in your freezer for one month!
   

   Carrot Puree ice cubes!

Helpful Tip! To remove all the air from your freezer bag, zip it almost all the way, put a straw in, suck the air out through the straw then remove the straw and close it the rest of the way. This will help to prevent any freezer burn! ;)

I was pretty surprised that Penelope preferred carrots over pears, but I guess it makes sense. Pears can be tart, but carrots are a nice, sweet veggie!

NEXT RECIPE: Pleasant Plums!